ESTHERIA MINUTA. 67 



This differs from Esthcria minuta of the Trias in being smaller (frequently not much 

 more than half the size), and in having a relatively smaller reticulation of the surface 1 

 (0 — 8 meshes between the ridges). It seems to have similar variations of shape as the 

 type exhibits. 



This variety I have named Brodieana, after the Rev. P. B. Brodie, E.G.S., who first 

 noticed it in the strata formerly known as the Lower Lias Shales, and now classified as 

 the Rhsetic beds, or the passage-beds between the Trias and Lias. I have it from 

 Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire (England), and from 

 Morayshire (Scotland). 



I. Gloucestershire and Warwickshire. — In Gloucestershire this Estheria occurs at 

 Westbury Cliff, near Newnham, and at Wainlode Cliff, near Tewkesbury, both on the 

 Severn. Erom the former place I have seen specimens in a light, yellowish-grey, soft, 

 fine-grained limestone (with numerous small fragments of plants in some specimens, 

 without them in others). It is sometimes scattered, sometimes numerous, on the planes 

 of bedding, and is usually flattened, but sometimes retains its convexity ; occasionally a 

 specimen is seen imbedded in an upright position, showing the dorsal aspect of the cara- 

 pace, more or less crushed. The specimens were collected by the Rev. P. B. Brodie 

 and by W. R. Binfield, Esq., and are in the museum of the Geological Society. The 

 Estherian limestone is described as occurring in nodules at a certain horizon in the 

 section. (See pp. 09, 70.) 



The specimens from Wainlode Cliff consist of a bluish-grey limestone (weathering 

 brownish-grey), full of dark-brown Estheria (PI. II, figs. 12 — 15), retaining their shell 

 and their convex form, and lying in the matrix in every position. Some of these specimens 

 are in the museums of the Geological Society and the Geological Survey, and others 

 were given me by the Rev. Mr. Brodie, in February, 18C1 ; none of them contain 

 plant-remains, Cyprida, Unio, nor fish-scales, such as are noted as belonging to bed 

 No. of Mr. Brodie's section, quoted at page 08 ; probably the Estheria occur only 

 in the nodules (as at AVestbury), and the other fossils in the accompanying clay or 

 limestone. 2 



In November, 1842, the Rev. P. B. Brodie, E.G.S., ('Proceed. Geol. Soc.,' vol. iv, 

 p. 14, &c), described the strata at Wainlode Cliff, on the south bank of the Severn, near 

 Tewkesbury, and at Westbury, near Newnham, on the Severn, eight miles below Gloucester, 

 especially with reference to the occurrence of fossil insects in some of these beds that lie 

 between the Red Marls of the Trias and the Lower Lias Shales. In noticing the characters 

 and position of these strata, Mr. Brodie observed the occurrence of numerous small 

 bivalve shells, much resembling Cyclas, in some of the layers ; and specimens were given 



1 Much resembling that of the recent, and somewhat similar, but larger, E. polita, Baird, ' Proc. 

 Zool. Soc.,' 1849, p. 88, Annul., pi. 11, fig. 3. 



2 Still more exact observations as to the distribution of Enl.omostraca, Insects, Plants, &c, in these 

 Rhsetic beds of Westbury, Wainlode, &c, are highly desirable. 



